A Damsel In Distress and A Knight In Shining Armour
by TheFifthMarauder54
Summary: Lily Evans and James Potter are meant to be together. That is blatantly obvious. So why does Lily despise him with all of her being? What will it take for her to see the light and realise she's just as crazy about him as he is her? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

If you were to take a hike through the northern side of Scotland, you might happen to find a sign. This sign would most likely read: DANGER – KEEP OUT – ALL TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED. This would mean that you're, what's most commonly referred to as, a Muggle (a non-magical being). If you didn't see the sign and instead saw a great, big castle – congratulations, you're not an ordinary human – you're a wizard, but you already knew that, didn't you?

Now, if you were revealed to be indeed a witch or a wizard, and decided to take a stroll up to the castle in which you had (or are going to have, all you young delinquents out there) your magical education, you might peep through the window to the Great Hall and expect to see a grand feast taking place. A grand feast is taking place, never you worry, but not with the excited chatter you'd expect to hear on the first day back at school. Instead, it is a different kind of chit-chat; desperate and worried. This is because one of the students has just been announced to have been kidnapped by none other than the world's darkest and most dangerous wizard; Lord Voldemort.

*Cue the dramatic music*

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"What do you mean Potter has been kidnapped?" Lily Evans, a very pretty seventh-year girl, asked, "He's _Potter_, for Merlin's sake, he's probably pulling an elaborate prank on all of us right now and is just waiting for exactly the right moment to wreak havoc."

"Lily," Marlene McKinnon, her best friend, said gently, "Don't you think Dumbledore would wait to tell us until he's absolutely sure that's what's happened?"

"I suppose so." she sighed.

"Besides, Sirius and Remus never saw him get on the Hogwarts Express and his father _is_ an Auror - of course You-Know-Who would want him dead."

Lily's emerald eyes widened, "_Dead?_ You don't think he's -? No, surely not."

Marlene shrugged sadly, "For all we know, he could be."

"Attention, attention," Dumbledore called out from the head of the staff table, "I understand that this is a bit of a shock but please remain as calm as possible. We have the best Aurors working on the case and they are confident that Voldemort has not killed him, at this stage. While he is alive, there is hope. Obviously, we ask that you're not alone when walking around the castle and all further Hogsmeades trips will be cancelled until we can put this to rest."

There were murmurs throughout the Hall.

"_At this stage?"_ Lily whispered.

Marlene put her hand on Lily's, "It's better than nothing."

"Prefects, please lead your houses to their respective dormitories." Dumbledore ordered.

"I guess that's me." Lily smiled weakly.

She rose from her seat and found Remus Lupin, another Gryffindor Prefect and one of James' best friends.

Lily hugged him, "I'm so sorry, Remus."

He pulled away after a few seconds and nearly smiled, "You know what the strange thing is? I was only talking to him last night and he was so happy. He had just got the letter that he was Head Boy. He thought it was a mistake. I could tell, though, that he was pleased."

"Potter – I mean, James got Head Boy? How on earth did that happen?" Lily said, trying to crack a feeble joke.

"Who knows? He was just happy because he knew he'd get to spend more time with you since you're Head Girl, and all."

Lily felt guilty – how could she have been so harsh to James? He wasn't that bad of a bloke, really. And he did seem to genuinely care about her …

Lily shook her head and tried to focus. She had a job to do.

"First years!" She yelled, "The Gryffindor Tower is this way!"

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That night, Lily got hardly any sleep. All she could think about was James and his beautiful hazel eyes and how she might never see them again. She didn't think she could bear it.

"C'mon, Lily." She pictured James saying, "Go out with me?"

She felt like slapping herself - wasn't she supposed to hate him?

"Please, Evans – you know you love me really."

Okay, Lily was starting to feel like she was going insane. Something had to be done, but what?

"Where's your Gryffindor courage, Evans? Aren't _you_ the one always calling _me_ a coward?"

There was only one thing for it.

"FINE!" Lily exclaimed, "I'll do it!"

"Do what?" asked Alice sleepily, one of her dorm mates.

Lily was mildly embarrassed, "Oh nothing – I was just sleep talking."

"Mmkayimgoingbacktosleepthen." came Alice's muffled reply.

Lily turned her pillow to face the other side of the bed. She was going to save James Potter. The question was; where did she start?

**A/N – Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. As you can see, I'm putting a slightly different twist on how Lily and James fell in love. Please bear with me. I have exciting plans for this story. Next chapter should be up soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

James Potter was absolutely _terrified._

Yes, those words were just put together in the same sentence.

No, it wasn't an error or a typo.

It was the truth.

In the past twenty-four hours; James had been gagged, tortured and starved.

He _should've_ been at Hogwarts, plotting pranks with his best friends and admiring Lily Evans from afar. Instead, he'd been taken to an old manor in the middle of nowhere. At least that's what James reckoned. He didn't know for sure, as he had been locked up in the basement the second he set foot in the place.

The basement possessed a singular mattress with a thin, flea-bitten blanket. There was a small window in the corner of the room, and if James craned his neck high enough - he could see the torrential weather thrashing against the skyline.

James had no idea how his life had got to this point, but if he could take back the last six years of his life and do everything over – he would do it in a heartbeat.

"The Dark Lord wishes to see you now, Blood Traitor."

James mustered a small grin, "How cute - you've already given me a pet name."

He may have been scared out of his mind but he'd be damned if he showed it in front of anyone.

Yaxley scowled at him, "Shut up and follow me."

He was led down a dark corridor that smelt strongly of rotten fruit and decay. His mother would not be impressed.

"Mr Potter," a snake-like tone greeted him, "What a pleasure it is."

"The pleasure's all yours." James muttered.

"Oi!" Yaxley snarled at him, "Show the Dark Lord some respect or you'll be getting a lot more than the Cruciatus Curse, I'm telling you."

"Simmer down, Yaxley, I dare say it's in his nature to be somewhat wary of his superiors. That'll all change soon enough."

"It will?" James raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. You see, Potter, I brought you here today to … make a proposal."

James clenched his fists, "As long as you're not talking about marriage."

Voldemort smiled (well, as much as it was possible for him to do so), "I'm _talking_ about you, perhaps, pledging yourself to me as a Death Eater."

Yaxley and a few of the other Death Eaters in the room laughed – what would the Dark Lord want with some seventeen-year old wizard?

Voldemort silenced them with a cruel glance.

"I feel your skills could prove most useful in amongst our ranks."

James pretended to be deliberating his options, "Well, I'm not sure, I've always dreamed about becoming the conductor of the Knight Bus – I don't know whether I'd be able to give that up for the sake of polishing the floor your twisted feet walk on."

"Don't be stupid, Potter …"

"I guess what I'm trying to say here is – I'd rather rot in Hell."

Voldemort tried hard to keep his composure in check, "I'm sorry you feel that way – I'll let you mull it over for a bit longer, see if I can't change your mind." And then, without any warning whatsoever, Voldemort screamed, "CRUCIO!"

James collapsed to the ground in a feeling of immense pain. It was like one thousand pairs of scissors were cutting into his very soul, threatening to make a permanent incision in his sanity. James screamed and screamed and screamed until the pain just … stopped.

Voldemort turned to face his 'faithful followers', "Keep him locked in here and see to it that a Dementor is outside the door at all times – if he decides he wants to change his mind, let me know."

The Death Eaters nodded meekly; for fear of being the next person the Dark Lord's wrath would be unleashed upon.

Satisfied, Voldemort disappeared into the murky night with a swish of his velvet cloak.

James breathed out in relief – at least he was gone now, for the time being.

**A/N – Hey! I know this chapter was kind of short but I wanted to give you guys an idea of what was happening to James. It'll be back to Lily in the next chapter. So, what did you guys think? Be sure to leave me a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Lily was almost there. She could feel it. _Taste_ it, even.

It had been days since she had last eaten something and she was absolutely starving. She hoped that once she found James she would be able to eat some proper food again.

Growing ever more impatient to finish her journey, Lily broke out into a heavy-paced run. The wind caused her blazing locks to blow maniacally around her face, making it nearly impossible to see anything at all. Fortunately, she managed to smack into a tree only once.

After half an hour, Lily had finally reached her destination.

The building was haunted and forlorn, located in the south of Albania – a peculiar place for You-Know-Who to keep his prisoners locked up but Lily supposed it added to the 'evil ambience'. She circled the perimeter of the house, noticing fallen rubble and broken ornaments as she went. There were two doors; one locked and the other blocked with what appeared to be a pile of awkwardly-shaped bricks.

"_Wingardium Leviosa." _ she muttered.

The bricks rose one by one and landed in a bush nearby.

Lily kicked open the second door and tentatively stepped inside. It was even worse than the outside. Spiders were crawling everywhere and a strange form of fungi was hanging from the ceiling.

"James?" she whispered.

"Don't even bother."

Lily flipped her head to face where the voice was coming from. A ghost was floating in her direction.

"What do you mean?" she asked, fearful of what the answer would be.

The ghost tilted her head towards what should've been the guestroom.

Lily peered inside and almost vomited. James was sprawled out on the bed, surrounded by a pool of blood.

She looked back at the ghost, "W-w-when?"

"Two or three weeks ago."

"H-how?"

"Suicide."

Lily felt like her heart was about to tumble out of her chest, "Did he leave a note?"

"As a matter of fact, he did. It's addressed to you."

The ghost retrieved an envelope from the bedside table and handed it to Lily:

_Lily,_

_You didn't save me in time – I hate you._

_Goodbye,_

_James_

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Lily awoke suddenly to find herself in tears. That was the most awful dream she had ever experienced and so bloody _realistic_. She checked her watch – it was only 11:58pm. No way was she going back to sleep after that dreadful ordeal.

She quietly got out of bed and tiptoed down to the Gryffindor Common Room. She settled herself into an armchair by the fire that was still crackling merrily away. What was she going to do? James had been kidnapped _ages_ ago and she was still no closer to finding him. Lily was worried that if she waited much longer then he would end up like he was in the dream - gone.

She stared into the flames for a considerable amount of time - just thinking. After a while, an idea started taking shape in her mind.

Lily sprinted out of the Common Room as fast as she could and prayed to Merlin that Peeves wasn't lurking about. She didn't know exactly where to go but she had read about this place before and knew that it could help her. It was called the Room of Requirement.

She began pacing back and forth in front of various different tapestries, hoping she'd eventually find the right one: _I need to save James Potter._

A door soon materialised in front of her very eyes.

"It's real!" Lily all but shouted, "I can't believe it!"

She hurried into the room but was disappointed by what she saw – a small slip of parchment paper and a portrait.

She picked up the parchment paper:

_Travel towards the peak_

_An angel you will find_

_To guide you to the reek_

_Of an old stale mind_

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Lily looked at the portrait carefully – did the riddle have something to do with the portrait?

She moved closer to it and as soon as she did, it swung open. It looked like it was leading her into Hogsmeade.

Lily shrugged, "I guess I've got to start somewhere."

And so the search began.

**A/N – HA! I bet you thought you had seen the last of me but I am back and ready to write. I am so sorry it's taken so long but I promise I'm going to be posting chapters A LOT more frequently. The next one should be up either tomorrow or the next day, depending (if I don't, feel free to pester me until I do). So what do you think? Lily has finally started searching for James, yay! I wonder what's going to happen … please leave me a review – they honestly make my day so much.**

**Also shout out to the people who left me a review last time: Ash-Caro-Lynn, Lauren Joan, oracle987 and the guests – you guys are amazing!**


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